Massachusetts woman returns $11K found in a purse on store shelf

Swampscott
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A Massachusetts woman found $11,000 earlier this week inside of a purse hanging on a store rack. She was able to return the money to its rightful owner.

According to CBS News in Boston, Cheryl Gavazzi, of Beverley, Mass., was shopping in a Marshall's store looking for a birthday gift when she noticed a handbag hanging from one of the displays.

She thought the purse, a Vera Bradley bag, was attractive and she considered purchasing it.

“I said that would be the perfect bag to put stuff in and (I) undid the zipper and at that point that’s when I went – ok what do I do now?” she told WBZ NewsRadio 1030 (via CBS News).

Upon examination of the bag's detail, she noticed there were items inside of the bag. These included diapers, immunization records of children and over $11,000 in cash, but no form of identification. Stunned by what she found, she initially thought she had accidentally stumbled into a drug deal, Gavazzi told the media.

She wondered what to do, telling the Boston Globe, “This is crazy,” she said she had thought to herself. “What do I do now? Do I ignore this and leave it hanging? If it’s a drug thing, what do I do?”

Ultimately, she said she decided this was an issue for the police. So, she took the bag to bring it to the authorities later on that day after an appointment.

When she brought the bag in, she learned it had been reported missing by a man who had been in the store shopping with his wife and children.

“He went shopping with his family, his wife put the diaper bag down, and she forgot it,” said Swampscott Police Detective Timothy Cassidy.

Reportedly, the owner told police the money was from a fund-raiser that was intended to be used to build a church in Guatemala. Media reports say Gavazzi gave police permission to share her contact information with the man, who was very appreciative to have the money returned to him.

Gavazzi said she never once thought of keeping the money.

“That’s not my money,” she told The Globe. “If it had happened to me, I would hope that someone would do the same.”

In related news this week, the Huffington Post reported a Goodwill manager at a Texas store found $3,000 in a pair of donated shoes. It turns out a man had donated the shoes not knowing his wife had hidden their savings in the shoes.